When we repatriated after 4 years living in another country (and we didn’t want to return), it was really hard to not talk about our lives in New Zealand. It was where we moved to, it’s where we’re trying to get back to, we’ve traveled there twice before living there, too. It’s pretty darn important to us.

So…

oh ffs just because you decided to sell your vagina to Jesus doesn’t mean the rest of us did.

Sweet Monkey Jesus.

Well the important thing is that Tracy gets to feel superior to the passport-stamp collectors.

One thing I learned when travelling is that every place is shitty in its own special way. You see that America could improve in some ways, but also see that America is pretty great in other ways. For example, I liked that I could open carry alcohol on the streets of Florence when I studied abroad - alcohol laws are…

White saviours gotta white saviour *Kanye shrug*

Totally agreed on the hobby thing. Most people have at least one thing that they spend their spare change and spare time on, whether it’s going to sporting events, playing video games, painting tiny soldiers under a microscope, making jam, whatever. I hate the idea that it’s always smug and elitist to travel a lot and…

So here’s the thing. I thought, when Flygirl was first introduced, that it would be like. Articles about places. And articles about tips for those places. And articles about tips for traveling well. And articles...that, frankly, weren’t this kind of bullshit.

I think Western people have a tendency to either totally villainize or victimize a whole category of people. I think what you’re saying - there’s good and the bad, is absolutely right. Being condescended to is no fun, even for a Third World Brown Servant.

This! I struggled with describing a trip I took last year. If I had an hour, sure, I could comfortably discuss the conflicts between Western influence, genocide, extreme poverty, and rich cultural history, but the person asking usually just wants a two-line summary, which leads to me inanely mumbling something along…

Let’s please add that we don’t need to hear about how America is so shitty compared to where you’ve been. Especially if it’s like a 10 day study abroad to Paris/London/Rome. It’s one thing to appreciate different things about another culture, but if you get home and start spewing about how the US is so fucked up and…

To me it’s all about what you were doing there. If you were living your life — going to school, working, over a month is passable but probably better to be safe and not make any declarations until month 2 or 3. If you’re touristing, whether that’s living it up in Istanbul staying on someone’s couch or backpacking…

Also, even if you do it on a budget, traveling isn’t like a super cheap thing. Most people I know who travel regularly (in fact, all of them) don’t do it to “collect stamps in their passports” because it is insane to spend a thousand dollars to do something like that. Literally every person I know who travels a ton…

Here’s a tip: If you are in your 20’s and are SO JEALOUS (obligatory *eyeroll* from said child) that I get to travel as widely and frequently as I do, remember that I never had the luxury or privilege until I was well into my 40’s, established in a career with plenty of PTO and a generous bonus program. I fucking…

So never talk about my travels at all, lest someone, somewhere at some point gets offended? Got it.

I guess my friends are good travelers, because I always find their pics and stories interesting! No one seems to take it for granted, they are all enthusiastic and excited.

Jumbo Slice is so terrible. I’m convinced DC residents have convinced themselves its great purely because its in Adam’s Morgan.

I was trying to explain to my English husband about what Friendly’s was- basically a place with rocking grilled cheese sandwiches and ALL THE ICE CREAM YOU COULD EVER WANT in a variety of forms. LOVE Friendly’s.

The coffee story... It fucking amazes me how often people expect ridiculous shit for free. You have to have the imagination and expectations of a young child to read “free small coffee” and think “free complicated coffee based drink.”

I see this theme again and again...